Remember in mid-June when the Brewers scraped past the Cardinals, winning 4 of 6 games? The Brewers bats torched Cardinals pitcher Edwin Jackson and even Milwaukee infielder Casey McGehee was feeling it at the plate, belting three homers in one game. Well that same team who got spanked by the ‘Crew’ ended up grabbing its revenge before taking the World Series.

I’m not sure if I should be upset with the Brewers for blowing its opportunity or mad at the Cards for taking away our World Series opportunity, so instead, I’m just going to blame the Braves for letting the Cards into the Wild Card and move on to the happenings in the offseason.

The most important news is that surrounding Ryan Braun. The Brewers greatest player since I’ve been a fan is on the verge of watching the first 50 games next season from home for steroid allegations. Weird details and ‘secret sources’ pop up repeatedly in this case, but my gut is afraid that even if he is found not guilty, he still wont be able to dodge that suspension from the MLB.

And I don’t care what the WAR – Wins above replacement – numbers say, losing Braun for a third of the season will almost certainly keep the Brewers from winning the Central again. We can’t rely on AmRam to be our best hitter.

Next up to the plate for Brewer nation, the landing spot of Prince Fielder. Fans across Wisconsin tried to imagine a scenario where Prince would stay, but deep down we knew his departure was inevitable. At least he taught us an important lesson about professional baseball: money over everything.

I understand Milwaukee’s offer was much too small, but he’s basically allowing the Tigers to stick him at designated hitter for the next nine years just because they offered him that extra dough that teams like the Washington Nationals could not. I mean think about it, the Tigers already have an MVP-caliber first baseman in Miguel Cabrera. Both players are going to be in the lineup everyday. So who goes where? Cabrera’s better in the field and so over time, Prince will nail down that DH spot in Detroit.

And finally the least important news surrounding the NL Central: the Houston Astros will move to the AL West in 2013. I think I speak for everyone when I say, “about time.” The Astros add no flair to the Central rivalries–Cincinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Saint Louis are all in the same region.

The Texas-based Astros just don’t belong. Rumors have circulated that the Astros will also consider a name change when moving to the American League, so I’m all for them switching back to their name from the 60s: the Colt .45s. Something tells me that will not be making a comeback, but luckily, they can’t screw up too bad because the NFL team in town is named the Texans. Real original.